


soccer game smiles

by philindas



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2016-10-02
Packaged: 2018-08-19 01:27:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8183698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/philindas/pseuds/philindas
Summary: Daisy Coulson has had the date her mother was coming home from deployment marked on her calendar for over a year.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This just kind of popped into my head so I ran with it. A cute little family au, since I think we need a little fluff with all the darkness of season four regarding our happy family.

_Mommy’s coming back on June 7 th._

This was the constant thought Daisy Coulson had for the entire year her mother was deployed. June 7th was circled in bright red marker on her calendar, and every day she flipped to it, checking that the date was still circled. Still there.

Her mommy sent letters, and two times they even got to Skype, her mommy’s face pixelated but grinning, happy to listen to her talk about every single thing that was happening in second grade. She’d hid around the corner and listened to her daddy talk to her mommy- his voice got all soft when he said her name and she knew he missed her as much as she did.

In May she started soccer- her best friend Jemma was on the team, and Trip, the boy who lived down the road. Sometimes his grandma would drive her when her daddy had to work late, and her babysitter Sharon couldn’t take her. It was fun- she didn’t like all the running, but she liked kicking the ball in the backyard with her daddy, and the feeling she got when she scored a goal.

Her daddy wrote all her games down on the big calendar in the kitchen, and it took Daisy about a week to realize why the date of her first game looked so familiar.

“Daddy! Daddy- Mommy is supposed to come home on my first game!” Daisy told him excitedly as he was cooking dinner- something with pasta and tomatoes and little green slivers that smelled _really_ good. “It’s next week, Daddy!”

“I saw that- maybe if you’re lucky she’ll even get here in time for the game,” her daddy tells her, stirring the pasta with one hand and ruffling her hair with the other, tapping his finger under her chin lightly. “I saw you had a spelling sheet in your folder- why don’t you get that out and we can work on it while I finish cooking?”

Daisy nodded, scampering off the grab her homework sheet and clambering up into one of the seats at the breakfast bar. She looked at the mess of black letters on the sheet for a moment before she looked up at her dad, chin resting on her palm.

“Do you miss her, Daddy?” Daisy asked, sighing heavily. Her dad looked up from the food, lips turning in a partial smile as he nodded, his blue eyes looking sad.

“Every single day, sweetheart,” he answered, reaching a hand up to brush her unruly brunette hair out of her face, his thumb soft on her cheek. “She’ll be home soon though, and she has missed you so much, Daisy. She can’t wait to come home.”

Daisy smiled, but her eyes stung a little and everything was a little blurry; she blinked, drops falling out of her eyes, and her dad quickly brushed them away. “Is she gonna stay this time, Daddy?”

“I hope so, Dais,” her dad answered, leaning over the counter to kiss the top of her head. “C’mon, let’s do some spelling, then have something to eat. And if you can spell macaroni correctly, you can pick the show we watch before bed.”

“Okay Daddy!” Daisy said, picking up her pencil as her dad took the list from her to read off.

 _Five days_ , she thought. _Five days until Mommy’s home._

_

The morning of June 7th dawned bright and shining- or at least, it did to Daisy. She woke up even before her daddy did, and the clock didn’t say 7 yet so it was still too early to get ready for school, so she crept down the hall and climbed into her daddy’s bed. He wasn’t asleep but his eyes were closed as he wrapped his arm around her; she snuggled into his chest, patting her hands against his stomach lightly.

“Daddy Mommy’s coming home today,” she whispered loudly, like he’d taught her when it was still sleep time. Her daddy smiled and she beamed, rolling until she was resting atop him, elbows on his chest and hands under her chin. “Daaaaaaaaaaaddy wake up we have so much to do before she gets here!”

“Dais, it’s not even seven am. We can still sleep for an hour. It’s Saturday, remember?” her daddy said, not even opening his eyes. Daisy tapped his chest, poking over his heart.

“But Daddy I’m not sleepy anymore! Mommy’s coming home!” that caused her dad’s eyes to crack open, and one corner of his mouth pulled up into a smile.

“Alright Daisybell. You want pancakes for breakfast then?” he asked, and Daisy beamed, nodded enthusiastically as her dad hauled him and her up off the bed, swinging her onto his hip. He grabbed his glasses, putting them on before they headed for the kitchen- he deposited her in a chair on his way to the fridge. “Want to do the eggs, Dais?”

Daisy nodded, grinning when her dad gave her two empty bowls and five eggs to break open.

Half an hour later, they had three stacks of fluffy pancakes- Daisy soaked hers in syrup, while her dad just put some peanut butter on his. She stuck her tongue out, making a noise of disgust, and he pointed his fork at her, raising an eyebrow. “Don’t you judge, missy, until you’ve tried it.”

“No thank you, Daddy, it looks gross. Syrup is _way_ better,” she replied, shaking her head. “Mommy agrees with me.”

“Yeah, I know. My girls ganging up on me,” he cut into his pancakes. He smiled after a moment, shaking his head as he brought his fork to his lips. “I’m certainly looking forward to that again.”

Daisy hid her grin in her own pancakes.

_

“Daisy, we’re going to be late, you need to put your cleats on!” Daisy didn’t move from her spot looking out the window- her mommy was _supposed_ to be home. “Daisy-”

“Mommy is coming home, Daddy, I know it, she has to see my game,” she said, pleading a little as she turned to face him- he tugged at her stocked feet until he could put her cleats on, tying them tightly. “We can’t leave without her, it’s my first game.”

“Honey, I don’t think she’s gonna be home in time. She should get here after we get home. I’ll record the whole thing, we can watch it with her tomorrow,” her dad said, and Daisy folded her arms, swallowing against the burn behind her eyes. “I know how much you wanted her to be there, honey, but she can’t make this game.”

Daisy scowled, fighting the urge to cry, and her dad put his hands on her knees.

“There will be plenty of games for Mommy to see, Daisy. But you don’t want to miss your first one, do you?” he asked gently, and Daisy scowled harder for a moment before she sighed, sliding off the couch.

“Fine, I’ll go,” she said, picking up her ball by the door.

She doesn’t talk during the ride to the field- her daddy even puts on her favorite princess CD, but she doesn’t feel like singing along. She looks out the window moodily, kicking her feet in her carseat- she perks up a little when she sees Jemma getting out of her family’s minivan, and she’d seen Trip getting into his grandma’s truck when they’d driven by his house. Her Daddy undid her seat and helped her out, and she ran off to catch up with Jemma- she linked arms with her, and the other girl laughed, happy to see her.

She and Jemma join the rest of the team who are doing jumping jacks; Trip shows up a few minutes later and grins at Daisy, showing off his missing front tooth. Daisy giggles, the sadness from earlier melting away as their coach, Mr. Fury, blows his whistle.

Daisy’s in the midfield at the start- she pushes her hair out of her face and meets the eyes of the boy on the other team. She grins, ready for the game to start, and his eyes widen a little. The whistle blows and Piper throws the ball in- Jemma gets to it first, heading towards the goal. Daisy’s on the opposite side of the field, watching as Jemma passes to Bobbi, who shoots. The goalie catches it, and tosses it- Daisy turns, ready to run back towards the other goal, when she catches sight of a familiar face in the crowd.

“Mommy?” she whispers, stopping in her tracks, lips parting. She rubs her eyes, looking again, and she’s still there- she’s still in her uniform, but instead of the bun Daisy is used to seeing, her dark hair is down around her shoulders. She catches sight of Daisy looking at her, and her face breaks out into a smile- she lifts a hand to wave, but Daisy’s already taking off across the field. “ _MOMMY!_ ”

She’s jumping before she even realizes it, but her mommy catches her before they sink to the ground, Daisy’s face buried in her neck, fingers tight in her hair. “Oh Daisy, baby, I missed you so much.”

“I knew you’d come,” Daisy whispered, snuggling impossibly closer. Her mommy held her tighter, rubbing her back and kissing the side of her head.

“I will always come back, Daisy. Always,” her mommy said, before pulling back to wipe away the tears Daisy hadn’t even realized had slipped down her cheeks. “Now you go score a ton of goals for me, okay? And you and Daddy and I will go get ice cream on the way home.”

Daisy turned then and bowled into her dad’s knees, hugging him tightly. “Sorry for being mad earlier, Daddy.”

“Daisybell, you don’t have to apologize. Go win your game, sweetheart. We’ll be watching.”

Daisy beamed, waving at them before she charged back to the field- the game had paused once everyone had realized what had happened. She turned once she was in position, unable to stop grinning as she watched her daddy slip his arm around her mommy; her mommy leaned into her daddy, smiling when he kissed her hair.

Her mommy was finally home. That was all that mattered.

(Well, that and the three goals she scored that game.)


End file.
